Think Vegas Strip, Coney Island, Shinjuku, Times Square… then there’s Dōtonbori – a totally mad jam-packed district in Osaka that really is, in terms of pulsing life, glorified kitsch and tacky gaudiness the throbbing heart of this city, like nowhere else! It makes Umeda / Osaka Station and the rarified air of the Hankyu Department store feel like an entirely different planet! 

We’d been to Dōtonbori in the day just to check out the district but quickly realised that we needed to return at night to fully appreciate how this place could come alive – and it didn’t disappoint. But seriously, an hour walking around these streets at night with the thronging crowds – mostly locals I might add – and you’ll be beating as we did a hasty retreat out of there, anywhere for some peace and quiet, away from the crowds – Temmabashi for instance.